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Thursday, December 08, 2016

When the Empire of Japan decided to launch a war against the US in 1941, only 10 to 20 persons were involved in the decision making: the emperor, the prime minister, other ministers and the Cabinet members, top generals of the Imperial Army and Navy. But as a result of this war fought as part of WWII, three million Japanese were killed.

When the US decided to launch a war against Iraq in 2003, only several persons were involved in the decision making: the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, etc. But as a result, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and subsequently Syrians as well as thousands of US soldiers faced fatal fates. And, indirectly, due to the rise of ISIS, millions of Muslims have been forced to flee their countries as far as to Western Europe.

Whether in a totalitarian country or a fully democratic country, a decision made by a small number of top politicians could cause a grave consequence. And if more people were involved in such decision making, such a tragedy could not be prevented probably.

However, if there is common strong understanding in the society that a war must be avoided at any costs, the situation must be different. Those top leaders must be influenced by the voice of citizens.

So, we need more peace loving God followers in any society to prevent war. Only righteous citizens can stop war. We should not trust and rely on top leaders of a nation.

**** **** ****Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

There are too many crimes in this world. But justice should be maintained. However, it does not necessarily mean punish criminals.

Everyone lives in an given environment. Through bidirectional relationship between his mind and the environment, his response is shaped. There are so many factors in the environment that work on his mind that has also various conditions. If there are strong discrepancies between factors around him and his mind state, acute stress will apply to his mind. And, if he cannot solve the difficult state in an ordinary and lawful manner, he might resort to illegal, sinful, or criminal measures.

This can happen to anyone. If anyone faces a situation that is beyond his capacity to handle it, he might act in an abnormal or criminal way. It looks like a matter of relativity.

No matter how evil a man is, still he lives through relationship with an environment that surrounds him. His evil act is a product of the relationship. If his inner ungodliness accounts for 99% of responsibility, there is still 1% of responsibility on the environment.

Therefore, we have to contribute to improvement of ethics in the society while keeping ourselves off the dark domain of humanity rooted to human desires, in order to reduce crimes. In other words, making no efforts to improve the society is a grave sin or crime if one superficially behaves well observing sternly laws and regulation.

You may say that you don't do anything wrong, but it is not enough. You may as well say that you are actively contributing to improvement of the society though you might sometimes do something wrong, if minor.

Christ Jesus did not live as a man whose mind was simply righteous but as a man who was contributing to improvement of the society.

**** **** ****Mat 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Monday, December 05, 2016

Since Japan abolished the samurai rule in 1868 through a civil war, Imperial Japan started modernization and Westernization. To achieve this goal, the Imperial Government invited and employed many Western experts in various fields. Breakdown of the number of those foreigners, who were hired between 1868 and 1900, into each country is as follows.
UK...4,353
France...1,578
Germany...1,223
US...1,213

More than 8,000 Western experts in engineering, science, art, literature, etc. were employed by the Imperial Government of Japan, municipalities, universities, schools, private companies, and other entities. On average, 250 Westerners were newly employed each year between 1868 and 1900. Most of them were paid well and left Japan after completion of their contract terms.

Japan could avoid being colonized by Western nations unlike other Asian nations. But it paid big money to learn products of the Western civilization and culture. Due to this effort, the Empire of Japan became one of the seven largest economies in the world with strong military powers when the League of Nations was established after WWI in 1919.

Japanese have been not only good learners but also good experts. It is because disciples cannot surpass their masters as the Bible reads.

**** **** ****Mar 12:5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.Mar 12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.Mar 12:7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our's.Mar 12:8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

To reach any given number or integer, basically we have to add one to one; one or two to two; one, two, three, or four to three or four; and so on. That is 1+1; 1+2 or 2+2; 1+3, 1+4, 2+3, 2+4, 3+3 or 3+4; and so on. Basically, by adding one to N, we can reach a number larger by one than N, that is N+1. However, this is time-consuming.

But if we know all the prime numbers, we can reach any number by multiplying prime number to other prime numbers as many as necessary times. This must be faster.

For us to understand any matter in this world, we have to accumulate experiences step by step. But if we are given some crucial knowledge such as prime numbers in arithmetic, we can swiftly reach a necessary level of understanding and comprehend truth or true meaning of the matter.

The Bible, the Koran, Buddhist scriptures, Confucian books, etc. would give us crucial knowledge about human matters in this world. So, if you learn well these holy books, you can comprehend truth more swiftly than ordinary people who have to accumulate their own experiences and extract truth from them. This is a great effect of reading sacred books.

Nonetheless, without proper experiences but only with knowledge obtained from reading sacred books, you cannot set a target number to calculate or you only know methods to calculate numbers.

That is why Christ Jesus said to abandon everything, including religious bodies, religious titles and positions, and religious arguments and follow him in paths through wilderness, villages, towns, and great cities.

**** **** ****Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.